Summary

Renaming a project using Microsoft Project Professional in a MS Project Server EPM environment requires the following procedure.

2. Steps to rename a project using MS Project Professional

To rename a project schedule, open the Microsoft Project Professional and make sure it is connected to MS Project Server.

1. Go to Filemenu and choose Open.

Microsoft Project Professional – File Open Dialog Box showing project from local cache

Tip: Notice in the screenshot that we renamed the EPM 2010 Rollout project in a previous step to EPM 2013 Rollout. But in the open dialog box it is still showing 2010 in the project name. That is due to local cache feature of MS Project Professional. Due to this reason, it is recommended that Project Managers publish their changes made in the project schedule using MS Project Professional before a project is renamed.

2. Click on the link ‘Retrieve the list of all projects from Project Server’

3. Locate your project from the list and right click over it then choose Rename

Microsoft Project Professional – List of Projects – Right Click a project and choose Rename

4. Enter new name of project (append V2 in name as an example) and hit enter key. A message box will bring this message

The rename job was successfully submitted to server

Based on the server load, it may time some time for this to complete. You will continue to see the old name till the operation is completed.

Microsoft Project Professional – Project Renamed Confirmation Message

5. Click OK to the message6. Close the open dialog box and open it again. You will notice the new project name in the list.

Tip:

Notice in the Open dialog box that you are using the Working store. Select the Publishstore and locate your project in the list. You will notice that the old project name will still show in the list. What happened here?

In MS Project Server, there are multiple databases (stores) draft, published etc. Save and Publish operations update different tables in the system. To resolve the issue, you need to open the working store version of project and publish it.

Microsoft Project Professional – Previous Project name shows up in Published Store

7. Make sure your have Working selected under Store in the dialog box8. Open the project (showing new project name) by double clicking on project name or by selecting it and clicking Open button at the bottom right

Microsoft Project Professional – Working Store showing new project name

Tip:If you get message regarding user submitted updates on the project, click No for now. You can approve those update later after the project is renamed. Update Center will show the new project name for the updates.

Microsoft Project Professional – Team Members submitted updates message

9. Go to File menu and choose Publish to publish the project data. That will update the new project name across all stores. (you can verify by going to file > open > ‘Retrieve the list of all projects from project server’ and then switching between working and published stores value and looking at the new project name)

Microsoft Project Professional – Publish Option

10. Go to File > Close to close the project11. Click Yes to any check-in message

More on this and other scenarios is coming in next parts of this series. So far we have completed the two parts. Review the third part to understand renaming the Project sites.

Related Softvative posts:

Create New Project from Existing in MS ProjectRename a Project in MS Project Server Part 1Rename a Project in MS Project Server Part 3Rename a Project in MS Project Server Part 4Rename a Project in MS Project Server Part 5

When working on projects in a PMO environment using Enterprise Project Management (EPM) system like Microsoft Project Server, you come across situations where you might have to rename objects. Those rename item request could be for project, resource, tasks or other objects in the system.

Summary

A project was created in Microsoft Project Server (MSPS) with a name. Later PMO / business teams wanted to change the name of the project.

1. Steps to Rename a Project using Project Web Access

Follow the steps below to rename a project using Project Web Access (PWA):

1. Go to PWA and click Project Center on left navigation

MS Project Web Access (PWA) – Project Center Link

2. Find the project from the list that you would like to rename and then select a cell other than the project name in the row or click the first empty cell on the left of the row [Hint: Don’t click on the project name as it will bring the project details page]

Project Web Access PWA – Select the Project to Rename

3. Click on PROJECTS ribbon tab on top, Click on OPEN dropdown under Project ribbon group and select ‘In Project Web App for Editing’

Project Web Access PWA – Open Project in PWA for Editing

4. On top area of left navigation, under project name, click on ‘Project Information’ or any PDP that has Name (that has project name) field in it.

5. Change the name of the project under NAME field
6. Click Save button in top left area of ribbon.
7. You will be presented with this message. Click OK to the following message:“The page and left navigation titles will not be updated with the new name of the project until the page has been reloaded.”

Project Web Access PWA – Warning after Project Renamed in PWA

You will see Save job message popping out from top right of screen.

Project Web Access PWA – Save Job Queued message

then

Project Web Access PWA – Save completed successfully message

At this point you can close the project and it will show the new name in PWA. I prefer to publish it just so that other database tables are updated as well.

8. Refresh the page to confirm the project has been renamed

Project Web Access PWA – Refresh the page to confirm the new project name on left nav

12. Once the Publish operation is complete, click on PROJECT ribbon tab on top

13. Click Close button

Project Web Access PWA – Close the Project in PWA

14. You will be presented with the Check-in message. Click Yes

Project Web Access PWA – Check in project in PWA

Exceptions:

The TASKS page for team members will show the new project name. But the TIMESHEET page will show the old project name, if the timesheet was created prior to project rename. In that case delete / recall and create the timesheet again. It will then show the new project name.

More on this and other scenarios is coming in next parts of this series. So far we have completed the first part. Stay tuned for the second part.

Related Softvative posts:

Rename a Project in MS Project Server Part 4Rename a Project in MS Project Server Part 2Rename a Project in MS Project Server Part 5Rename a Project in MS Project Server Part 3How to Check in your own Project that is checked out to you in another session on MS Project Server

Microsoft Project can’t Connect with Microsoft Project Server EPM due to Version Mismatch

Version: 1.2, Modified: 12/29/2014

Microsoft Project Professional edition is the desktop client in Microsoft Project Server (MSPS). The version of the server and client software should be at a supported level in order of the two to work together. Service Pack or Cumulative Update (CU) patches if deployed without planning can cause issues in MS Project Server Enterprise Project Management (EPM) system.

There are different reasons as to why MS Project Professional can’t connect with MS Project Server EPM.

Below are some of the scenarios:

a. Not using the right edition of MS Project (Professional VS Standard)

b. Not using the right edition of MS Project Professional with the right edition of MS Project Server (2010 VS 2013)

c. Not using the correct URL of Project Web Access (PWA)

d. Not having enough permissions (a user with team member or lower rights trying to connect MS Project Professional to MS Project Server)

e. Not using the right version of MS Project Professional with the right version allowed by MS Project Server in PWA > Server Settings

The focus of this article is about the last scenario. I’ll also cover special case of this scenario.

e. Not using the right version of MS Project Professional with the right version allowed by MS Project Server in PWA > Server Settings

There are known issue if your MS Project Server (MSPS) is at latest patch version and your desktop MS Project Professional edition used it too old.

MS Project Server 2010 / 2013 / Project Online circumvent this problem by allowing the Project Server Admins / PMO Admins / PMO Analysts to set limit on the least version of MS Project Professional that can connect with the Project Server.

Which MS Project Professional product can connect with which MS Project Server product

The short summary is:

MS Project Professional 2010 can only connect with MS Project Server 2010

How to Control Which version of MS Project Professional Can connect with MS Project Server EPM

Microsoft Project Server 2010 / 2013 has the configuration setting that allows you to control which version of MS Project Professional within the same edition (2010 or 2013) can connect with the MS Project Server.

On that ‘Additional Server Settings’ page there is a setting to set the minimum version number of MS Project Professional that can connect with that instance of the MS Project Server EPM. Ms Project Professional versions prior to that number will not be able to connect with MS Project Server.

PWA Additional Server Settings > Project Professional Versions

You can see this pilot instance supports a minimum of 14.0.6123.5000 version of MS Project Professional. That version is dated back to June 2012. That is little too old.

As per ITIL best practices for Configuration Management and Problem Management and also as per Information Security’s Patch Management Life cycle, the application versions should be maintained at the best possible levels. Even from Information Risk Management prospective, sometimes supporting too old version means also keeping old vulnerabilities alive in your new system. There is lot more to talk about on these best practices related to this topic. But that is little out of scope at this time for the topic.

Special Case Scenario due to version mismatch

I’ve seen a special case where a Project Manager was not able to connect to MS Project Server with everything correct as per the scenarios discussed at the beginning of this article.

The PM was getting the error listed below when launching MS Project Professional using connection with MS Project Server.

The following job failed to complete.Job Type: LoadError ID: 12015 (0x2EEF)Error Description: An internal error occurred.Cloud not load Project. Please try after some time. If the problem persists, contact your system administrator.

MS Project can not connect with Project Server – Error ID 12015

Clicking more Info button reveals more details. You can see the version that is passed on to the PWA is not the right one.

Cloud not retrieve Enterprise global template.There seems to be a problem with the database, please contact your server administrator.

Issue Cause

I verified that the MS Project Professional version was new relatively i.e. 14.0.7015.1000. That was higher than the minimum supported version configured in PWA.

Looking at the File > Help in MS Project Professional and reviewing the version screen in a large print out, I was able to find an anomaly. See the above screen shot again. It shows that MS Project Standard and MS Project Professional both as activated versions!

It turned out to be the Desktop Engineering person deployed MS Project Standard version first by mistake (& without any service packs or updates). Later he installed MS Project Professional over the same version as upgrade rather than removing the standard version. Now when the PM was trying to connect to MS Project Server using Ms Project Professional, somehow the desktop was passing the lower version 14.0.4751.1000 (see one of the screen shot above) and thus PWA was rejecting the connection.

Resolution

Uninstall any version of Microsoft Project from the desktop, reboot and then install the correct version of MS Project Professional with the the latest service pack and CU level as supported by the organization.

Revo Uninstaller – Free version is one nice 3rd party application (Pro Version) to remove the stubborn applications. That helped in getting rid of the old version completely and then installing the MS Project Professional version again.

The correct version once installed and activated should only show MS Project Professional under File > Help.

Office 365 Applications Brainstorming Plan

Version: 1.1

Microsoft Office 365 has lots of applications based on the plan you choose. To make it easy to plan and understand, Softvative created a brainstorming plan. the initial version if focused on external user interactions with corporate users.

Soon that plan will be offered as a full version download for registered users. The full version will be a MS Visio based version covering Visio plan, clickable links to important articles, comments on key areas and expanded plan with more details.

Review the current version of the Office 365 brainstorming plan that includes key Microsoft Online apps including:

SharePoint Document Conversion Services

Overview of Document Conversion Services

SharePoint has Document Conversion Service that allows to convert files like Microsoft Word .docx into SharePoint webpages.

Office Web Apps (web version of Office) that works in SharePoint and allows users to view Office files even if they don’t have MS Office installed on their PC. In the absence of Office Web Apps (OWA), SharePoint Document Conversion Service will be handy to view the MS Office files.

Document Conversion services are not enabled by default. There are two services for Document Conversion.

Issues in Configuring Document Conversion Services

Some times you get into issue during initial configuration of Document Conversion service or even later during operations where these services fail to start.

Error Starting Document Conversion Services

You go to SharePoint Central Administration site > System Settings > Manage Servers in this Farm > Click on an application server name (not SharePoint Web Front End). That will bring you to the Services on Server: ServerName page. In one of my scenario, I tried to start the Document Conversion Load Balancer service and got Error Starting status. I tried different ways but couldn’t start the service.

Services in Console

In one of my scenario, I went into Windows Services console to review the Document Conversion services. Both the services were not running. Don’t try to start the services from Windows Service console.

After adding the registry entries, try to start the Document Conversion Load Balancer Service from the Central Admin site > Services on Server page. Click on Start under action column to start the Load Balancer service.

SharePoint Document Conversion Load Balancer Service Started

Now click on Start under action column for the Document Conversion Launcher Service. That will brig the Launcher Service Settings page. Select the same server from Load Balancer dropdown field and click OK.

SharePoint Document Conversion Launcher Service Settings

You should now see the two Document Conversion services with the status of started.

SharePoint Document Conversion Services with Started Status

Let take a peak at the Windows Service console for these services.

SharePoint Document Conversion Services -Started in Services Console

Configure Document Conversions

Once the Document Conversion services are running, its time to configure it. You go to Central Admin site > General Application Settings > Configure Document Conversions to configure the conversions.

SharePoint – Configure Document Conversions link

On Configure Document Conversions page, you select the web application, enable document conversion, select a load balancer, schedule conversion and set converter settings. Click Apply. Once you are done with changes, then click OK.

SharePoint – Configure Document Conversions Settings

Under Converter Settings, click on one of the link for the installed converters to review and adjust settings.

Answer:Role based training containing real world examples are the most effective and keep the users engaged. SharePoint 2010 User Adoption training videos from Microsoft were short, precise and extremely good for business users.

Video training are also effective. Having videos in LMS is bonus plus. I’ve effectively used the following training formats for my customers:

Small 2-3 minutes structured personalized on-demand videos that you can host within SharePoint or on a streaming media server. Use Jing, Microsoft Expression Encoder, Camtasia Studio, Articulate or similar resources to record, edit, create, encode and publish contents

Creating a SharePoint site collection just for training where users can practice

Use step by step word / PDF guide divided into chapters that users can download and print. Make training contents relevant to the training site collection is most valuable

Using WebEx to deliver live or on-demand training and also use Webex LMS with user registration

Structuring training based on roles is best. That was users increase their knowledge level and will be motivated to move to next role training

Create a FAQ Blog under the training site collection where cover weekly / monthly posts on new topics, most frequent problem and other hot pressing issues.

Tie your ticket support system with the SharePoint knowledge base within the training site collection. Don’t just fix or resolve issues, but document and create knowledge base that will go with you for long

Table of Contents

How to view my project in read-only when it is already checked-out in another session or by someone else?

How can a MS Project Server Admin / PMO Can help PM / RM?

Risks in Force checking-In Projects

Issue and Cause

Sometimes when working with your projects in MS Project Server, Project Managers / Resource Manager (PM / RM) forget to check-in their project at the end. Few times due to latency issues the project is not checked-in when PMs / RMs close their project. That leaves the project in questions still checked-out on MS Project Server side.

Next time the PM / RM tries to open that project, they will not be able to do it. The system will prompt the PM that the project is checked out.

Resolution

A Project Web Access (PWA) user that can check-out a project, can also check-in the project. Below are the steps on how to check-in your project that says it is checked out to you.

1. Go to Project Web Access (PWA) home

2. Click on Project Center link on the left quick launch navigation

3. Click on ‘Check-in My Projects’ link on the top ribbon area under Navigate group. If you don’t see the ribbon, make sure you are in the Projects tab and not the Browse tab of the ribbon.

4. You will be in ‘Force Check-in Enterprise Objects’ page. Make sure you have ‘Enterprise Projects’ highlighted under the ‘Select the type of object you want to force check-in:’ dropdown. From the list below, locate your project and check the box in front of that row. That will activate the Check-in button.

5. Click on the Check-In button to force check in the selected project(s).

6. Click OK to the dialog box that asks ‘Are you sure you want to Force Check-in these items?’

7. The Job State column will show Processing. Refresh the page and the project should not be there in that list.

8. The project will be check-in and PM / RM should be able to check out the project again using either Project Web Access (PWA) or Microsoft Project Professional (MSPP) from desktop.

9. Click on Project Center link on left and check out your project.

How to view my project in read-only when it is already checked-out in another session or by someone else?

At the time of project showing as checked out, if a PM / RM goes into MS Project Professional, they see that project says it is check out. PM will not be able to open the project in Read/Write mode to edit it.

PM / RM can open the same project in Read Only mode. In that case the top middle title area of MS Project Professional will display the project name with [Read-Only] at the end of it.

Hint: Make sure you don’t make changes in the read-only project. I’ve seen PMs spending hours and hours changing a read-only project and then come to a point of no return. You will be able to save changes on desktop but not to a project that is already checked out.

How can a MS Project Server Admin / PMO Can help PM / RM?

MS Project Server EPM Admin can force check-in any project for PMs/ RMS. PWA Admin can follow the same steps as above. He can also do the same steps from PWA > Server Settings > ‘Force Check-in Enterprise Objects’ under Database Administration section.

I created this Excel Data Refresh Options Chart that I’ve used on different projects. It shows external data refresh option in standalone MS Excel file, Excel file in a SharePoint library, in Excel Web Access and in Excel Web Access Web Part. It also shows different roles around Excel in an organization. Excel Workbook Author in some organization could be different than the SharePoint Site Admin that sets the web parts.

Softvative – MS Excel External Data Refresh Options Chart

a. MS Excel Data Connection Properties

1. Open your MS Excel file that has the data. Click on Data Ribbon tab and then click Connections.

MS Excel Data Connections Menu

2. Select one of the existing connections in your workbook and then click on Properties button.

MS Excel Data Connections Dialog Box

3. Under the Usage tab, under Refresh Control section there are refresh data settings:

d. SharePoint Excel Web Part Properties

2. Click on ‘Add a Web Part‘ link3. Click on ‘Business Data‘ under Categories and then click on ‘Excel Web Access‘ under Web Parts section. Click Add button on the right side of the screen.

SharePoint – Add Web Part – Categories > Excel Web Access

4. Excel Web Access – Select a Workbook web part will come up on your page. Click on link that says ‘Click here to open the tool pane‘

SharePoint – Excel Web Access – Select a Workbook

5. Excel Web Access Web Part Properties section comes up on the right side of the page. Select an Excel file under Workbook field.

SharePoint – Excel Web Access Web Part Properties – top

SharePoint – Excel Web Access Web Part Properties – bottom

The default refresh connection settings on that web part are:

Section

Option

Default

Toolbar Menu Command

Refresh Selected Connection, Refresh All Connections

Checked

Interactivity

Periodically Refresh if Enabled in Workbook

Unchecked

You can leave the default setting for “Refresh Selected Connection, Refresh All Connections” to have that refresh option for your end users. Alternatively you can uncheck that option to remove refresh connection option for your users.

6. Optionally expand the Advanced property section of the web part and uncheck following options:Allow CloseAllow HideAllow Editing in Personal View

SharePoint – Web Part Advanced Properties

7. Click Apply at the bottom right of the web part properties.8. Review the Excel Web Access file and go to Data menu and see Refresh options.9. Edit the web part properties again and uncheck the option “Refresh Selected Connection, Refresh All Connections“. Click Apply to save changes. Now review the Data menu and you will notice the refresh options are now removed.

SharePoint – Excel Web Access – Data menu

10. Excel Web Part property ‘Type of Toolbar‘ is by default set to full. That displays toolbar options based on settings. You can set that option to Summary, Navigation or none. These settings also hide or show refresh options in the Excel Web Access tool bar.

To exploit any of these related vulnerabilities, an attacker must be able to authenticate on the target SharePoint site. Note that this is not a mitigating factor if the SharePoint site is configured to allow anonymous users to access the site. By default, anonymous access is not enabled.

To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be able to authenticate on the target SharePoint site. Note that this is not a mitigating factor if the SharePoint site is configured to allow anonymous users to access the site. By default, anonymous access is not enabled.

Security Resources

It is good to review the SANS Internet Storm Center for the criticality of these updateshttps://isc.sans.edu/